Smarg: Launch Day

Original concept art for Smarg by Jesse Switters.

September 3, 2024—Today is, at last, the day that Jesse Switters (find him on Instagram and Facebook) and I start letting everyone know that a brand new alien, whom we affectionately dubbed “Smarg,” is coming. Smarg’s unassuming alter ego is Swerven Niv-Bakcen, but by night (and at other times), he flies about as a super-powered member of the davlin species occupying the planet Dontilon. Smarg has been doing his best to protect his sprawling urban home. Of course, starting in issue 1, untold threats emerge to engage our hero in the fight of his life.

Jesse and I have some story presentation and storytelling goals that we have set for this series. For one, we seek to bring you a unique visual aesthetic with colors and line work, made possible with our singular setting on a completely made up world. We hope this approach, combined with a ‘90s comic art style, will deliver a fresh-yet-familiar look to the book.

In addition, we want each issue to stand strong on its own from a narrative perspective. We certainly hope our readers to return to Smarg for issues 2, 3, and beyond; however, each chapter of his story aims for a satisfying conclusion with a little exposition, conflict, climax, and denouement. Worry not—there will be threads spanning a number of books to reward completionists who digest every panel of Smarg, but we think our readers will see every issue as a reasonable jumping on point and an enjoyable standalone reading experience.

This page of paulhallgrencomics.com will serve as a landing point for regular updates on the progress of the story from Jesse and me. Please feel free to stop by again, and consider placing a pre-order to support our work! In the meantime, always feel free to reach out to me at paulhallgrencomics@gmail.com or on my Instragram.

Sincerely,

Paul